Heavenly Queen Temple (Melbourne)

The Heavenly Queen Temple is a temple dedicated to Mazu or Tian Shang Sheng Mu (天上聖母), Chinese Goddess of Sea and Patron Deity of fishermen, sailors and any occupations related to sea/ocean, also regarded as Ancestral Deity for Lim (林) Clan. The temple is located in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, approximately 4km from the Melbourne CBD, and overlooks the Maribyrnong River. It is Australia's largest Taoist temple and includes a 50 ft gold-painted stainless steel statue of Mazu imported from Nanjing, China and installed in 2008, with the statue the second of its kind in the country. The temple complex is based on the Forbidden City, with the main temple opening in 2012. The temple's first stage was completed in 2013 at the cost of $5 million after 5 years of construction. The main hall opened to the public in 2015, but construction of the temple complex continued until 2020 with two additional halls completed. Once completed, the temple complex will cover approximately 40,000 square meters in area, with about two-thirds of the land to be used as a Chinese Garden and car park and the total floor area of the buildings to cover approximately 5000 square meters.